My goals and reasons for creating Peace Pups Dogsledding:
I am a local Vermont resident and have lived in the Central Vermont area for twenty nine years. I live in Elmore Vermont with my wife, step son, two cats and a "several" Siberian Huskies. I have been biking regularly since I bought my first Specialized Stump jumper in 1985 at the beginning of the mountain bike revolution. I have since discovered the joy of road biking as well and love riding the quiet paved roads of Vermont. When the snow melts and things quiet in the dog yard I dust off my bikes and try to keep myself in good enough shape to keep up with the dogs! I got my first Siberian husky in 2001 and have since added several more to my kennel. With the trend being toward Alaskan Huskies and hounds for racing I have decided to stick with Siberians because we just seem to get along personality wise.
My focus is not on racing although I try to do a few races each season to see how our training is going. I prefer spending time exploring new trails in Vermont and the surrounding area and exposing people to the exciting world of dog powered sports. We typically try to do at least one winter camping trip per season and hope to do more of that in the future. I have been a professional woodworker for the past thirty years and worked for one of the largest wood working companies in New England for eighteen years. These days I am trying to move toward a more outdoor oriented lifestyle and gradually move away from custom furniture. I do enjoy working on and building dog sleds and as much of my own dogsledding equipment as I can. More time in the fresh air, more time with the dogs!
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My Mission at Peace Pups Dogsledding and Bike Tours is to be a small sustainable business. My goal is to donate ten percent of my profits to non profit organizations working to promote world peace while at the same time providing the best possible care for my dogs. I feel this is a way that I can act locally and have a positive global impact. I strive to spread the joy of working with dogs to a broad audience and promote dog sledding in Vermont as well as encourage people to get outside and enjoy the natural beauty of our state. We had a great season in 2007-2008 with a ton of snow and a lot of happy customers. With 2007-2008 being our second full season running tours there were still a lot of overhead expenses and the bottom line didn't turn out as rosy as I had hoped which in turn didn't leave me with a lot to donate. Although my 2007 tax returns showed us carrying a small loss I am still going to make a $500.00 out of pocket donation to Democracy Now. I feel that it is important to have some form of independent media left in this wonderful country of ours. So often the main stream media has very little in depth coverage of world events. I believe being well informed is a valuable asset and helps us all to make good decisions which will make for a better world in the future. I hope the upcoming season will be even better and we will have more to donate next year. Dogsledding is not a high profit business and even though I make every effort to keep my overhead down and my experiences affordable; premium dog food and good veterinary care doesn't come cheap. Thanks for visiting the site • Enjoy • Hope to hear from you. |
